


AN ENCOUNTER OF THE INEFFABLE SORT

by DeadHero



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Depression, M/M, kind of, raph is aziraphale its just a nickname so hold your tits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 15:58:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17870273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadHero/pseuds/DeadHero
Summary: prompt: a lonely person meeting an angel





	AN ENCOUNTER OF THE INEFFABLE SORT

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ApprenticeofDoyle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApprenticeofDoyle/gifts).



He sat on a park bench by the park’s pond, watching the geese swarm a group of children on the other side of the water. His feet were cold, and his backside hurt from the old, warped wood of the bench.

Someone sat down next to him. He didn’t look immediately to see who, he didn’t want to be rude. Instead, he shifted over slightly, giving a couple more inches of room out of politeness sake. He feels the wood beneath him bend as the stranger got comfortable. 

A hand tapped his shoulder and now he turned to see who sat down.

He looked them over. The stranger had dark brown skin and black hair. They had a threadbare, vintage winter jacket that was accompanied by a bow tie and small, round glasses perched on the end of their nose. 

“Hi,” they started. Their voice was bright if not a bit pointed. “I just wanted to ask if you like geese.”

“I don’t like geese,” he replied. 

They frowned.

“Oh, well— I thought you might have, with how intently you were staring at the ones over there.” They waved a hand (nails manicured, round) towards the ones he had been watching attack young children earlier. “I was just curious because, well, you see, this is going to sound terribly nosy and all, but I thought to myself _ ‘if someone is going to be watching some waterfowl that intensely, then they’ve got to have an interesting reason’ _ . So. Erhm. Here I am.”

He stared at them blankly.

They stared back, eyes prodding and openly curious.

He cleared his throat, coughed into his elbow, and cleared his throat a second time. “What was the question, again?”

T hey frowned thoughtfully. “I guess I didn’t actually ask one, did I?” They glanced over at the trees behind him for a moment, before their eyes wandered back. “Here, how about this: why are you watching the geese?”

His lips twisted awkwardly and he rubbed the back of his neck. His toes curled in his shoes. “I don’t have...a reason. Or anywhere else to be.”

“Nowhere?”

“Nowhere,” he repeated. He ground the heel of his right shoe into the soft dirt. “Nowhere with nobody expecting me.”

They laughed at this and adjusted their jacket. They turned fully to face him and crossed one leg over the other.

“Well, surely that can’t be. No family perfunctorily expecting you for Christmas dinner? No co-worker waiting for your arrival at work?  No old friend from school who invited you for drinks in an attempt to regain some of the vivacity of your youth? No one nowhere?”

He reconsidered. “My neighbor asked me to watch her cat next month.”

The stranger laughed again before nudging him at the shoulder. “Well see, there you are. Everybody has someone who would miss them. No matter the degree of connection, everybody is missed for one reason or another.”

He let this stew in the back of his head and chewed on his lip. “I...suppose so,” he said slowly. The neighbor, Ms. Device — _(“Please, call me Anathema.”)_ — had been very grateful when he had said he would watch her cat. She might miss him, at least out of frustration for needing to find a new pet-sitter. He looked back at the stranger and found that they were watching him. Their eyes were like an ocean. Not in that they were blue or grey or pretty or nothing. They were deep. Old. 

“What’s your name?” he heard himself ask.

“Raph.”

He blinked. “Like the cartoon turtle?”

Raph tipped back their head and laughed, slightly nervous but full of something, like he had some kind of inside joke this went back to. “Yes, I suppose so.”

They smiled at him and he couldn’t help but try to smile back. The skin around Raph’s eyes crinkled, he noticed, only to blink when they stood up. He watched as Raph stuck out a hand. Their nail polish was white-tipped.

“Well, it was a pleasure to talk with you…”

“Crowley.” He stood up reaching out to take Raph’s hand. It was warm.

“It was a pleasure to talk with you, Crowley.” Raph’s smile was crooked and showed a bit of their teeth. It was a nice smile. 

Raph turned to leave.

Crowley lurched forward suddenly, catching him by the arm. Raph turned to him, head cocked slightly, eyes wide but not afraid. Crowley's mouth moved, but no words came out. He felt his face heat up and forced the words in his throat free.

“Would— would you want to meet again? Here? Next week?” 

“Oh,” Raph said, voice high and pleased. “That sounds lovely! I keep meaning to get outside more, but I’ve never quite made it out until today. So, yes,” Raph placed their own hand over Crowley's. “I would love to meet again, here, next week.” Raph squeezed his hand before gently moving it off their jacket. “I’ll see you then.”

With that, Raph left. Crowley sat back down on the old, wooden bench, watching them go before his gaze returned to the pond. He rubbed his thumb over his fingers, staring back at the geese. They had returned to the water, their prey having run out of bread. They bobbed together, clustered, waiting.

He thought about how there was someone waiting for him, now, somewhere.  Expecting Crowley. That felt nice.

He watched the birds swim and admired their wings.

**Author's Note:**

> basically uuuuuh i had an original work and then jazz ruined my life by making me realize that it could be easily transformed into a go au where aziraphale is doing his angel shit and comes across crowley, a mega depressed human like yours truly. it is TBC but i dont know when exactly it will BC'ed  
> also yeah lmao Aziraphale uses he/they because trans rights


End file.
